Sometimes, There's Nothing Better than a Sandwich

I mean, it's a busy day, you're tired, you just want something quick to eat. Truly, there can be no greater or easier dinner than a nice sandwich. And I'm not talking just a lunch meat sandwich, but something tasty, unique, and fabulous.

I came across this recipe/suggestion on Green Cilantro a while back and made it back last year  - yes this is how far behind I am in blogging.

This meal was creamy, savory, delicious! It was great for dinner and would make a great lunch too!

Here's what I did.

Mix cream cheese with herbs - dried or fresh. Spread that on some nice fresh bread. Layer on some cucumber, avocado and smoked salmon and enjoy.  Seriously, how simple is that??

Creamy, delicious, wonderful. Even better on the hub's own homemade sourdough!

There is not one bad thing about this meal

Shrimp - Check
Bacon - Check
Avocado - Check

see - nothing bad about this meal at all!

Truly happy I found this recipe on How Sweet It Is for Crispy Shrimp Sandwiches. We opted for our open face so we could properly measure out our carbs., but it still tasted incredible!! This is quite possibly the most perfect summer meal - even though we initially made this back in April (yes, I know I"m quite behind on my blogging!!)

I did skip the mayo on this recipe - instead of the mayo with tarragon and parm, I did just a simple mayo with some lemon juice and Penzy's Mural of Flavor - it was quite delicious.

I hope you enjoy the crispy, creamy goodness as much as we did!

1 pound of peeled and deveined raw shrimp - I was cooking for two - I just did enough for 10 shrimp per person or so.

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3 slices bacon

1/2 avocado, chopped

lettuce for garnish 

4 sandwich rolls/breads/buns of choice, preferably toasted - I used the hubs home made sourdough he uses.

Combine flour, paprika, garlic and chili powder in a large bowl and mix. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add bacon and cook until fat is rendered and bacon is golden and crispy. Remove and let drain on a paper towel. Do not turn off heat.

Quickly salt and pepper the shrimp, the toss in the flour mixture (I actually “tossed” mine and this went much quicker and just as successful as dredging it). Working in batches, add shrimp to the skillet and cook until golden on each side, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.

Combine shrimp, avocado and crumble the bacon into a bowl and lightly mix to create a sticky “salad” of sorts. Spread bread of your choice with parmesan mayo, garnish with lettuce, then stack on the shrimp. Serve with a fork and fruit on the side.

Parmesan Tarragon Mayonnaise

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons freshly chopped tarragon

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Spread on sandwiches. Can be refrigerated for up to 5 days in an air-tight container.

All Things Delicious

Mushrooms

Bread

Cheese

All melty and gooey and delicious.

Yup. That's pretty perfect!

Add the hub's perfect homemade bread and this meal is spot on!!

Thanks to Closet Cooking for this fantastic recipe!

I did make a few slight changes which I posted here.

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, sliced

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon thyme, chopped

1/4 cup white wine or broth

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

1/2 teaspoon truffle oil * I omitted this

1 cup fontina or gruyere, shredded

1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated - I skipped this added cheese

4 slices bread

2 tablespoon butter

Melt the butter and heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.

Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minutes.

Add the cremini mushrooms and saute until the start to caramelized and turn golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the wine, deglaze the pan and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat and let cool a bit. * I omitted the salt - there's plenty of sodium with the cheese.

Mix the cheese into the mushrooms. * Instead of doing this, I layered the mushrooms and cheese on the bread and then did the grilled cheese portion.

Butter one side of each slice of bread and place 2 in the pan buttered side down.

Top each with 1/2 of the mushroom mixture and finally the remaining slices of bread with the buttered side up.

Grill until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown, about 2-4 minutes per side.

Farmer's Market Fresh

It's that time of year again! Farmer's markets are in season and our garden is blooming and growing well. We're eating more fresh produce and local foods than ever and it's so delicious and wonderful.

The other week I made open faced eggplant parm sandwiches - which were tasty.

The how to:

Slice eggplant in to long slices and dip in egg white and bread crumbs. Place on a baking rack on a cookie sheet and spray with some Pam. Bake at 350 until until the eggplant is tender and the pieces are crispy.

Lay strips of the cooked eggplant on some fresh bread - we used our fresh sourdough. First we put some garlic scape pesto on the bread, then the eggplant pieces, then some fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and some basil and cracked black pepper. DELICIOUS!

We dipped in some sauce on the side and enjoyed with some fresh garden zucchini. It was a wonderfully filling and delicious garden fresh meal!

Easy Beefy!

I grew up outside of Chicago and grew up eating Italian Beef Sandwiches. Ever since moving to RI I've yet to find a suitable replacement for Italian Beef Sandwiches; there's cheese steak galore, steak grinders, you name it - but nothing that would be a suitable replacement for my beloved Italian Beef Sandwiches.

A few weeks ago I was browsing around on All Recipes and found a recipe for Pepperoncini Beef and what drew me in was that it was so easy, done in the crock pot, and followed a similar technique to my Kalua Pork recipe that I make.

This came out so delicious and made some killer sandwiches - so great actually we ate them 3 times in the week!

Still not the replacement of my Italian Beef Sandwiches from Chicago, but still pretty damn' good!

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) beef chuck roast

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 (16 ounce) jar pepperoncini - I used the whole peppers, not the rings

Directions

Make small cuts in roast, and insert garlic slices in cuts. Place roast in the slow cooker, and pour the entire contents of the jar of pepperoncini, including liquid, over meat.

Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Shred the meat and the pepperoncini and return to the crock pot on warm to sit in the juices and get tender. Serve on buns with cheese.

Who needs Buffalo Wings...

When you can have these awesome Buffalo Chickpea Patties?

OK, granted the meat lover will miss the chicken wings, but the non-meat lover will adore the kick of these!

And I can even say they are delicious leftover - even frozen and re-heated they are great. I've had them for breakfast on a biscuit (think Chick-Fil-A esque chickn' biscuit), I've had them on an English muffin, on a bun, and alone. And every way they are AWESOME!

I splurged and topped mine with some blue cheese and they were just great with the cheese - really gave it a hot wings dipped in blue cheese dressing feel.

Easy to make, great to eat! Hope these find a spot in your recipe rotation!

Thank You Veggie Belly for another great recipe!

Please note this is the recipe as on Veggie Belly - but I doubled the recipe to make extras for leftovers. The Hubs didn't think they were big enough (read: thick/meaty like enough) so he ate 2 patties on a bun. Next time I'll still double but make them thicker.

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 c. rolled oats

1/4 c. buffalo sauce (note: if you like spice, and I don't always like spice, but I'll admit this could have used more buffalo sauce)

1 egg white

1 small yellow onion

1 tsp. garlic powder

Salt and pepper

Add chickpeas to a bowl, use a potato masher and mash until about 2/3 of the chickpeas are pasty and 1/3 are in pieces or whole.

Add the buffalo sauce to the chickpeas.

Add half of the oats to a food processor, pulse to create a crumb, add to the chickpeas. (Note: I blended all of the oats)

Beat the egg white in a small dish to a froth, add to the chickpeas.

Grate onion into the chickpeas, finally add the garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Use a spatula and fold mixture, combining ingredients well.

***At this point, from making other veggie patties, I knew to let this sit a bit to let the oats do their thing so you get a firm/solid patty. I highly recommend letting this sit for about 10 minutes or so before forming in to patties.***

Heat a griddle over medium, spray with nonstick spray or add 1 T oil.

Use a 1/3 measuring cup to portion out chickpea mixture onto griddle, this yields about 5 patties.

Cook patties for 5-7 minutes, until crispy and brown, flip gently and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Pea-Lafel

So, if you are a frequent reader you know my affinity for Aarti on Foodnetwork. Well did you know she has a blog?? Um, I didn't and I can't believe I haven't found it before. It's a great mix of recipes, music, culture, fun and more - check it out.

So back in Feb. we made these WONDERFUL pealafel sandwiches for dinner from her Belly Dance show. Oh my goodness they were so good and really more flavorful that traditional falafel. They were rich, crispy, smooth, creamy and had the most beautiful vibrant green color.

I do have to say though they did not re-heat in the microwave well the next day for lunch and became a bit greasy, but I think re-heating in the oven would be a much better route - that is if you have any left, because they are so good you'll want to eat them all!

We served with a simple tabouli salad and in pitas with the sauce - delicious!!!

This is certainly a great summer meal as tomatoes, cukes, and herbs start sprouting!!

Pea-Lafel/Fried Pea & Mint Sandwiches

Adapted from Aarti Parti, Food Network

For the Sauce

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped, plus 3/4 cup whole leaves

Kosher salt

For the patties

1 cup frozen peas, thawed and drained

1 cup frozen edamame, thawed and drained

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup flour

Canola oil, for frying

pitas, halved

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into large dice

1 large English cucumber, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds

In a small skillet, toast the fennel and coriander seeds for a couple of minutes until they're fragrant and slightly darker, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and throw into a coffee/spice grinder. Grind to a fine powder.

For the yogurt sauce: Mix the yogurt with the 1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves and a generous pinch of salt. Chill in the fridge.

Throw the peas, edamame, ground spices, shallot, garlic, remaining whole mint leaves, olive oil, and salt into a food processor and puree until smooth. It won't get completely smooth because of the edamame, but process until it is as smooth as possible.

Scrape into a big bowl and stir in the flour. The mixture will still be pretty soft. Not to worry!

Pour enough oil into a large skillet - about 1/4-inch deep. Heat over medium heat until shimmering. Then shape the pea mixture into 12 small patties the size of a golf ball, and then gently drop into the oil. I did this by using my cookie scoop to get the rounded size I wanted. I then flattened them a bit between my hands before popping in the oil. Fry until the bottoms are browned and then carefully flip over. Brown the other side, and then remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel-lined plate - do drain them!! they retain a bit of oil and you'll want that to soak out before you put these in your pitas.

Serve warm in a pita bread pocket stuffed with the fresh veggies and a spoonful of the yogurt sauce.

Now doesn't this look indulgent??

Oh yeah, you know you want to try this. Cheese, Prosciutto, Figs, Pesto - I mean how can this be bad??? It can't - simple answer - make it - it's that good.

Sweet

Salty
Savory
Herby

It's got everything

And it's crazy filling!

Bulky roll or crusty bread

1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese cut in to slices

1 container reduced fat pesto

4 figs cut in to thin slices

8 slices Prosciutto - 4 for each sandwich

Spread pesto on each side of the bread, layer with cheese, figs and Prosciutto. Place in a sandwich press or press down with a heavy pan while the sandwich is in a skillet with some Pam. warm until cheese gets melty and gooey and delicious!

Here in Lunch Lady Land....

Sloppy Joe, Slop Sloppy Joe!

Sloppy Joe, Slop Sloppy Joe!

Hoagies and Grinders, Hoagies and Grinders

Navy Beans Navy Beans, Meatloaf Sandwich....

Join me now - SLOPPY JOE, SLOP SLOPPY JOE!

God I love that song!

Anyways, yes, this post is about sloppy Joe's - the greatest all American, easy, feed your family food. But what happens when you try to limit your meat intake or are vegetarian? How do you enjoy this? Sure, you could sub with tofu or veggie crumbles - but when Vegan Dad posted this recipe - I thought - GENIUS - seriously, Genius!!

These were fantastic, hearty, delicious and filling and yes, tasted just like a real sloppy Joe - and without the greasy meat or Mammwich can.

Red Lentil Sloppy Joe's

I did edit the recipe from his so how I made it is here - his recipe is at the link. I basically omitted the peppers.

Pam
1 onion diced

1/2 tsp. oregano

1 cup red lentils, rinsed

1 cup Ketchup

1 1/2 cups to 2 cups water (I didn't need to add any extra water)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

1 T brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

2-3 dashes of Frank's Red Hot sauce

With Pam in your pan pan, sauté the onion and oregano until just tender. Then add in the lentils, ketchup, water, vinegar, Worcestershire, sugar, salt and pepper and hot sauce and stir and let sit to bubble. Then reduce the heat and cover, cook for about 30 minutes - do check it, you may need to add more liquid as it cooks until the lentils are tender. You don't want it really mushy, you want it still to look like lentils - not mushy.

Serve open faced on buns with cheese.

Back home to our Midwest Roots

I adore sandwiches - I really do - they are like the perfect food. They can be healthy, fatty, vegetarian, meatatarian, you can customize it to your liking, it's quick, it's easy, and oh so good!

My mom laughs that I love sandwiches so much, but I really do have quite an affinity for them and I'm thankful the hubs doesn't fight the sandwich craze here either!

We took a trip back to my Midwest roots for this dinner. In Southern Illinois, loose meat sandwiches are quite popular - remember those episodes of Roseanne?? Well I didn't realize until reading my plethora of food blogs a bit back that the loose meat sandwich craze is NOT just a midwest thing. Reading the blog Coconut & Lime, I realized that in Baltimore they are called Steamburgers. And really the recipes are the exact same from what I grew up eating and what I researched on other websites as well.

And since Coconut & Lime has never let me down before I went with their recipe.

We enjoyed these with some pickles and the first corn on the cobs of the season for us. It was such a fun meal and made me feel like a kid again!!

Loose Meat Sandwiches aka Steamburgers or whatever you call them where you are from!

My adjustments to the recipe is here, the one from Coconut & Lime is at the link above.

1 lb very lean ground beef
2 can beef broth - low sodium and low fat
1 onion, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Pam
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt
pepper


Directions:
Heat PAM in a large, shallow skillet. Sauté the onion and shallot softened. Add the beef and brown the beef - be sure to drain off the fat - no need to eat that!! Once drained, add in the seasonings and then the can of beef broth - I used low sodium and reduced fat beef broth but you can use whatever you want. Simmer until all of the liquid is gone - you'll notice the meat breaks down even more and gets REALLY tender. Serve on hamburger buns with mustard - so tasty and good!

I'll Take Falafel with a Side of Hot Dog...

I'm going to do this post a la Pulp Fiction - backwards.

We're cleaning up dinner tonight, and this is the conversation that followed. To all of you die hard vegans/vegetarians out there, please don't be offended, the hubs is NOT an insensitive, naive person... he just has to find some way to bust my chops and make me laugh every day:

Me to Hubs: "You can take some falafel for lunch tomorrow."

Hubs: "with a side of hot dog."

Me: "a side of hot dog? why do you need that with falafel for lunch?"

Hubs: "because there's no meat."

Me: "but you don't need meat, it's vegetarian and has beans, that's your protein."

Hubs: "yeah but it's still not meat - and if I don't eat the meat who will save the animals? What about all the animals?"

Me: "WHAT?! What are you talking about?"

Hubs: "I'm not a vegetarian so I can keep the animals from suffering even longer at slaughterhouse or farm."

Me: "Well yes that's bothersome but we eat vegetarian for the health benefits more."

Hubs: "nope, the more meat the better."

So, as you can see, we had falafel for dinner tonight.

It was so good, and we were so hungry - yeah I didn't take any pictures - sorry bout that! But it looked beautiful!

The recipe came from Branny Boils Over on her blog and I made it AS IS (minus the fact that I bought my pita!) The only thing I changed, was I doubled the recipe so I could have extra for lunch. I used my mid sized scoop to roll it out and I got 24 (with the doubled recipe - so 12 with 1 recipe) and we put 3 in each pita with a T or 2 of the sauce.

Do make this - I know we'll be making it again and again - it was seriously the best falafel I've ever had - and I'm WAY picky with falafel.

Falafel and Sauce

1 3/4 cup chickpeas
1/2 cup sliced green onions
3 T tahini
1 egg white
2 T parsley
1 t cumin
2 t lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1/2 t crushed red pepper
1/3 c dry bread crumbs

Combine all ingredients except bread crumbs in your food processor. Blend until smooth. Fold in bread crumbs. Form into falafel balls or patties (your preference). Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes until they begin to brown.

Yogurt spread
3 T yogurt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tomato, chopped in a small dice

Combine.

Curry Burger

So this recipe is an oldie but a goodie from a Weight Watchers cookbook I pulled out. I've made this before as the burger patties, but this time, I, quite frankly, was just too lazy to form burgers.

In the end, the hubs and I discovered we really like the meal this way - just a ground meat with the rice. Really, either way you make this it's good and tasty...

Curried Turkey Burger with Rice

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt

1/2 small onion, grated (grate for burgers, dice for the meat mixture)

1 T bread crumbs (omit if you're making it the way we did)

1 T curry powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cups brown rice

1/2 cup bottled mango chutney (I don't like mango, so anytime I make this, I've never used it)

OK for the burgers: spray a broiler pan and preheat your broiler and use the turkey, 1/4 cup yogurt, onion, bread crumbs, curry, pepper in bowl and form in to 4 burgers and cook until done and serve with the rice, the chutney and the rest of the yogurt.

NOW for the burger crumble like we made it.

Spray a pan with Pam and saute the onion and the meat together. Add in the curry, salt and pepper. When done, remove to low heat and once it cools a bit, add in the yogurt and stir to make it creamy, then turn the heat back up to warm it up. Serve it over the rice.

Calories:

1 burger

2/3 cup rice

1 T yogurt and 2 T chutney

380 calories

3 g fat

7 g fiber

Excusez-moi Madame

OOOO How we love grilled cheese in our house.

But add a touch of Ooo La La to it and it's even better!

I made Croque Madames the other week for dinner. Fresh ham, swiss cheese grilled up on some nice sourdough bread with a nice over easy egg on top. DELICIOUS!

So fatty and not the best for you but to eat it once a year, it's totally worth every single bite.

Next time though I need to make less, too much of it went to waste since it's not something that keeps well for a leftover.

WOW The hubs ate a vegan dinner!

I didn't set out meaning for it to be a vegan meal, but it really was and it was so tasty good!

It was so good - and such a late dinner - that I didn't get a photo. Sorry foodies!

I got this recipe for these Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers from the Brown Eyed Baker Blog. It so did not disappoint! I served them on the sandwich thins - so tasty! along with some avocado and some Garam Masala Roasted Cauliflower.

If you like cauliflower, you need to make this. Cut your head of cauliflower up - toss with oil and garam masala seasoning and roast at 375 until roasty, toasty tender.

I did double the burger recipe on everything so I could have some burgers to freeze - this ended up making 7 good sized burgers. I didn't cook them with oil, just dry skillet pan. It did end up using about a cup of bread crumbs and then I let it sit for a bit to stiffen up a bit.

Delicious dinner - it's a hearty burger, you'll love it!

Mushroom Black Bean Burgers

Black Bean Mushroom Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

1 Tablespoon canola oil, plus more for brushing
1 cup finely chopped onion
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
4 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, lightly toasted - I just used bread crumbs
15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 ounces (about ½ cup) shredded cheddar cheese - omitted, because I forgot!
Salt and freshly ground black pepper - I did not season with salt or pepper.
4 English muffins, sandwich pockets, or hamburger buns, split and toasted
Salsa and sour cream, for serving (optional)

1. In a large skillet, heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, garlic, cumin and paprika and cook until mushrooms have released their juices, about 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

2. Tear toasted bread into pieces and place in food processor. Process until broken down into crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a medium bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and beans to the food processor; pulse until combined, but not smooth – leave some chunky bits. Scoop mixture into the bowl with the bread crumbs; add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. - *Again, I just used breadcrumbs *

3. Mix ingredients together and divide into 4 equal portions. With dampened hands, shape each portion into four thick patties. Lightly brush each side of all patties with canola oil.

4. Heat a grill, grill pan or skillet over medium heat. Place patties on the surface and cook until thoroughly heated through and the outside has crisped, about 5 minutes per side. Serve burgers on toasted English muffins and topped with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Perhaps the best egg salad evah!!!

The Hubs and I are big fans of egg salad. Maybe me a little more than him.

I had a couple of leftover kaiser rolls kicking in the fridge that needed to be used. I was on the mission for a good, new, sandwich recipe to make that would be quick and easy on a busy night.

I came across this recipe on my friend Pam's recipe site that she maintains for us on the RI Nest Board.

These eggs salad sandwiches combined all of our favorite things - egg, bacon, capers - what more could I ask for?!?? I did double the number of eggs in it - but I also only used half the amount of egg yolks. Instead of adding double the mayo - I just added one extra T and it was MORE than enough!! And I did bump up the number of capers. For the bacon, again to be quick, I just did 6 slices of microwave bacon cut up after it was cooked.

DELICIOUS! Will so make this again!!!

Bacon and Egg Salad Sandwiches

2 Slice(s) cooked crumbled bacon

3 Tablespoon(s) mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon(s) spicy brown mustard

1 1/2 Teaspoon(s) drained capers

3 hard cooked chopped egg

4 Slice(s) sandwich bread

2 leaves lettuce (we also did tomato)

In a small bowl, combine the bacon, mayonnaise, mustard & capers. Add eggs; stir gently to combine. Spread over two slices of bread; top with lettuce & remaining bread. Serve immediately.

You say G-Ro, I say Gy-Ro

Once again, one of my favorite food blogs did not disappoint at all with this recipe - Thank you Elly!

Her Chicken Gyros are out of this world delicious and easy!

I served them along with some small eggplants from our garden that I coated with salt and pepper and grilled. The whole meal was just wonderfully delicious and I can't wait to make it again!

See, look at this picture, doesn't it just make your mouth water??

How The Hubs Eats...

When the Wife is Away...

I went out of town to visit my mom recently and left the hubs a menu plan, got the things he would need - one night was BLTs.

He was so impressed with his incredible BLT Skills, he took a picture - or 10 - so I would blog about it.

I love this man so much - he's so adorable.

Here you go babe - your BLT Special.

UPDATE: The Hubs comment when I read him this and showed him the picture : "BLOG"

So I got a bit creative...

Since I'm on a veggie burger kick, I decided I'm totally wing it today and come up with my own.

I wanted to do a lentil based burger for the week and ended up with something a bit more.

I used about 1 cup dried lentils I had left in the pantry and combined that with about 2 cups of leftover Red Mill pea/lentil soup mix with barley, etc. that I had left as well.

From there, I just went nuts and what I got was WONDERFUL! I can't wait to have them this week for lunches.

The use of the remaining soup mix was a great way to go - I may buy more of that and use it for more burgers. It's a nice mix of lentils, split peas, barley and some little ABC pasta which cooks down enough that it helps to hold the mixture together to form the burgers.

I boiled the lentils with salt, pepper and bay leaf.

Once the lentil mixture was tender, I drained it and it made about 6 cups worth of the lentils.

Puree - roughly - in the food processor in two batches.

Once the lentils are done, place an onion and two carrots in the food processor and chop that up. Toss that mixture with the lentils. Season the mixture as you'd like - I went with rosemary, basil, thyme, and pepper. I also added in about 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds for some crunch. I did have to add some oatmeal to help congeal a bit. You could also add egg or bread crumbs. Just let the oatmeal or breadcrumbs sit in the mixture a bit to soak up the moisture.

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Form in to patties - I used my WW 1/2 cup measure as the guideline for getting the patty amount and the 1/2 cup seemed the right amount.

Place on an oiled griddle pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a heated cookie sheet in the oven. I put the oven at 350 and I do let the burgers sit in the oven for a half hour or so to really form and keep their shape.

I tried one this afternoon and they are filling, hearty and delicious!!

I will have to do this one again!

Homemade Veggie Burgers

I'm a big fan of veggie burgers, but I don't lovethe frozen ones - they are so greasy and either laden with peppers or have a horrible after taste or texture.

I like making my own, and realized I just need to get better about taking sundays to make some veggie patties for the week.

I tried this recipe this week from Prevention Magazine's site. They are SO incredibly good. I did have to make some adjustments to make it so they would stand up for a week in the fridge, transport and reheating but they came out awesome! They are NOT spicy - you could certainly add a hotter curry to make it have more kick.

Vegetarian Curry Burgers
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil - used light sesame oil.
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 1/2 cups white button mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked and drained chickpeas - went ahead and used the whole can
1 medium carrot, grated (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro - used dried cubes from Knor.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
flour - opted for breadcrumbs because the whole mixture needed to be more firm


Directions
1. In a medium nonstick skillet over mediumhigh heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion, curry powder, coriander, and fennel. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften. Add the mushrooms. Stir to mix. Cover and cook for about 4 minutes longer, or until the liquid pools in the pan. Uncover and cook for about 3 minutes more, or until the liquid is evaporated.

2. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the chickpeas. Pulse until well chopped. (NOTE: I added in the walnuts and cilantro, salt and pepper before I pulsed it - then I blended with the carrots) Transfer to a bowl. Add the carrot, walnuts, cilantro, salt, and pepper and mix well.

3. Lightly dust hands with flour. Shape the mixture into six 4" wide patties. NOTE: Mixture was too gooey to stay together, so I added about a cup of breadcrumbs. This helped firm things up and make it so you could form a nice patty.

4. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Place the patties in the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until browned on the bottom. Flip and cook for about 4 minutes longer, or until heated through. NOTE: I let them cook longer in the skillet on the non stick griddle pan. Then I placed on an air bake baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 to help firm them up so they would withstand storage for the week. Came out perfectly and delicious!

Thank You to Elly Says Opa!

Elly Says Opa! is one of my favorite cooking blogs. She's always got some great Greek dishes on there but also just wonderful everyday meals for the family.

I found these Chicken Parmesan Burgers on her blog a week or so back and made them the other night and they were so delicious! So delicious I didn't take a picture either!

Easy recipe! Tasty recipe. And per the hubs, the best flavored ground turkey we've ever had.

Thank you Elly!

Chicken Parmesan Burgers
1 lb. ground chicken (I used turkey)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 cup chopped flatleaf parsley (I used dried basil instead)
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
1 shallot, finely diced (omitted, didn't have on hand)
salt and pepper (just pepper, didn't need more salt with the cheese)

1/2 cup pasta sauce (1 80z. can is more than enough!!)
4 slices mozzarella or provolone (or 1/2 cup shredded) (I used the nice fresh mozzarella cheese)
sauteed mushrooms (optional)(omitted but will try next time)
4 buns (brushed with a little garlic butter, they are even better) (Yes Elly they are!!!)

Lightly mix together all the ingredients for the burgers. Form into 4 patties. I like to make them about 30-40 minutes ahead of time, to let the flavors meld a little bit.

Preheat & spray the broiler with a little oil (or use the grill, or a pan). Broil the burgers for about 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and broil for 3 minutes. Top each chicken burger with 2 Tbsp. pasta sauce and a slice (or about 2T) of cheese. Place back under the broiler for 30-60 seconds, until cheese in melted and burger is cooked through. Top with mushrooms, if desired. Place the buns in the broiler for about 10 seconds, just until toasted.